When the demoness Shurpanakha, sister of Ravana, is spurned and humiliated, Ravana plots his revenge. A golden deer (the demon Maricha in disguise) lures Rama away; Lakshmana follows; and Ravana, disguised as a wandering mendicant, seizes Sita and bears her off through the sky to Lanka. The noble eagle Jatayu fights to save her and falls mortally wounded. Bereft, Rama and Lakshmana begin the long search for Sita.
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The story of the Aranya Kanda
The Aranya Kanda (“Book of the Forest”) recounts the years in the wild Dandaka forest, where Rama, Sita and Lakshmana live among sages and battle the demons that torment them. The turning point comes when Ravana’s sister Shurpanakha, spurned by Rama, is humiliated, and she inflames her brother to revenge.
Ravana sends the demon Maricha disguised as a golden deer to lure Rama away; when Lakshmana too is drawn off, Ravana seizes Sita and carries her toward Lanka. The noble vulture Jatayu fights Ravana to defend her and is mortally wounded, living only long enough to tell Rama what has happened. The brothers set out, grief-stricken, to find her.